t ١ The Caucus For Women Politicians in the Arab Region 2 The Annual Report On The Status Of Women In Politics wthin The Arab Region The Caucus For Women Politicians in the Arab Region 3 The Annual Report On The Status Of Women In Politics wthin The Arab Region The Caucus For Women Politicians in the Arab Region List of Contents: Launching Statement of The Caucus for Women Politicians in the Arab Region…………...................................................................................................…....5 Research Methodology.................................................................................6 Chapter One...................................................................................................8 Women’s status within Constitutions and Electoral laws Chapter Two.................................................................................................27 Legislative Elections in the Moroccan Kingdom During 2016 Chapter Three...............................................................................................53 Observational report on the Parliamentary Elections in Jordan from a Gender Perspective in 2016 Chapter Four.................................................................................................67 Kuwaiti Parliamentary Elections During 2016 4 The Annual Report On The Status Of Women In Politics wthin The Arab Region The Caucus For Women Politicians in the Arab Region Launching Statement of The Caucus For Women politicians in the Arab Region The Arab Region is currently going through various transformations and changes on the political level, particularly throughout the last five years. This is due to diverse forms of popular movements taking place in the region, either in the form of revolutions that overthrew heads of states or in the form of international military interventions in other countries. These transformations in the state structure resulted in the growing impact of some terrorist, extremist groups that committed sectar- ian and racial cleansing. In addition, the occupation against the Palestinian people continues. These developments formulated new security threats in these contexts, where the pursuit of democratic transition was imposed on several countries in the region in order to try avoiding the wave of pop- ular uprisings that started in 2011, through establishing the rule of law and enforcing a democratic system that depends on new constitutional processes or substantial constitutional amendments, enacting more democratic electoral laws, as well as combating violence and discrimination against women. With these transformations, the role of women in the endeavor to create a democratic space that consolidates values of equality and human rights in the Arab Region was quite significant. The masses of women engaged in the public space and in politics have increased. These women are leaders of their societies who have presented- and continue to present- a distinct image of women engaging in the political arena and who stood in support of the democratic peaceful movement. They fought through democratic mechanisms in order to enforce values of justice and equality in their nations. Such a role was our drive: as a group of women living in this region who believe that sharing our experience and continually standing in solidarity with our diverse, continuous struggles is what helps keep the voice of freedom, justice and equality evident in our societies where women face different forms of violence and marginalization. Driven by our belief in the impact of this role and those experiences, we held several preparatory meetings throughout last year, the last of which was held in Beirut, Lebanon on 6-9 May, 2016 for the aim of launching “ The Caucus For Women politicians in the Arab Region” to become a voice of democratic feminists of the region; those who are concerned with the realities of their societies and sharing experience among them, while manifesting the value of solidarity to women who struggle with violence, and help empower them in diverse arenas and elaborating their political role as a major tool in establishing a democratic, participatory society. 6-9 May 2016, Beirut- Lebanon Long Live Women’s Struggle and Solidarity 5 The Annual Report On The Status Of Women In Politics wthin The Arab Region The Caucus For Women Politicians in the Arab Region Report on the status of women in the elections held in the Arab region during 2016 During 2016, there have been several changes that affected the path to women’ political empowerment in the Arab region. These changes included passing several laws and legislations that positively, or negatively, impacted the political role of women, in addition to the fact that the Arab region also witnessed several legislative elections in some countries. This calls for analysing these elections while not only taking in consideration their results but also looking at the legal, political and security climate surrounding the electoral process. These factors have a direct impact on the status of women in the electoral process and on election results. Such impact extends to the future of the political role for women in the Arab countries. This report includes four chapters: the first one is about the status of women within constitutions and election laws. The second chapter covers the parliamentary elections in Morocco as an example for the elections where a delegation of the Caucus for Women Politicians in the Arab Region took part in its monitoring. The third chapter tackles the parliamentary elections in Jordan and the fourth and last one discusses elections in Kuwait, both of which were held in 2016. A Conceptual Introduction: The Research Methodology for the Annual Report on the Status of Women and Politics in Arab Countries The report adopts a two-sided methodology, practical and theoretical. The report’s theoretical side involves a historical, analytical, comparative and descriptive approach and it is based on collecting primary data from diverse sources, including policy documents and reports of the states, political parties and commissions such as the national commissions for elections in the countries covered by the report. The secondary sources include working papers, journals, academic research papers and reports of women’s organisations in some countries. The practical side is based on inductive reasoning: that is the process of observing phenomena and collecting data about them to reach general principles and overarching connections, and a bottom-up reasoning that relies on the transfer of the case studies’ experiences that are only partial to the general guidelines, which means moving from the particulars to a general rule. Hence, the outcomes of inductive reasoning are more generalized than its leads and it takes place through observation and trial and the different followed research techniques. The credibility measure of this form of reasoning is based on the actual agreement of the outcomes reached with the reality. The Caucus members took part in the inductive reasoning process, through sharing their experiences in their countries and their knowledge about the democratic transitions, adding to the role of feminist leaderships, civil society actors and feminist groups in attaining rights and entitlements, whether constitutional or legal. We specifically point out parliamentary election laws, local elections whether central or on district levels and representation within parliaments of several countries. Regional consultation meetings were held for The Caucus for Women in Politics in the Arab Region, with its members taking part in them; these members are also feminist political leaderships in their countries which include Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait. 6 The Annual Report On The Status Of Women In Politics wthin The Arab Region The Caucus For Women Politicians in the Arab Region The Caucus members are characterized by their engagement with the political arena and their active participation in the democratic mobilization in their countries, as well as their persistent efforts to keep women’s issues in politics on their states’ agendas. The caucus members took part in following the parliamentary elections of the Moroccan Kingdom, in partnership with the Arab Network for the Democracy of Elections during the periods preceding and following the elections. Moreover, one of the caucus members ran in these elections and won a seat which added value to the report through her real life experience and the active role of the Caucus members regarding these elections. The report highlights the study and analysis of women’s participation in politics within the Arab Region and finding out the status of women in politics within the constitutions and laws that are related to participating in the political field, during the period from 2011 till 2016. The report also sheds light on the role of feminist groups and leaderships in constitutional and legal amendments and evaluating the role of women in them, in addition to pinpointing the obstacles and challenges that they encounter until now; these encompass the patriarchal, dictatorial ruling regime and the misogynistic culture engrained in the consciousness of our Arab nations that still deny women their representation in decision making and their presence in legislative, executive and supervisory bodies, despite their unrelenting participation in the democratic mobilization and struggle. They consistently